UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION

Gov. Tom Wolf on Dec. 20 signed into law a four-year funding plan to continue unemployment compensation operations by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor &Industry.

In a statement, Wolf lauded members of the General Assembly for working in bipartisan fashion to craft HB 1915 as a compromise measure that “provides an infusion of funding for the unemployment compensation system” and allows the state government to “provide much-needed stability” for workers affected by job dislocation.

Under the measure, $115.2 million is set to be provided over the next four years to continue technology upgrades and to hire additional employees to offer a modest increase in service levels. Staffing in the unemployment compensation system will remain below levels that held sway before workers were furloughed in late 2016.

The main author of HB 1915, state Rep. Rob Kauffman, R-Franklin, stressed that the new law would ensure completion of long-awaited updates to the unemployment compensation program's computerized benefits system and end the need for temporary measures to fund the program.

“This new law will prevent a repeat of the type of crisis we had last year when the department laid off hundreds of employees and shut down some of its call centers right before Christmas,” Kauffman said.

The new law is Act 60 of 2017.

RECOVERY HOMES

Wolf on Dec. 19 signed into law a bill that would require state licensing and certification of recovery homes that receive public funds or referrals from state, county or federal agencies.
SB 446 gives the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs authority to regulate residences specifically for people in recovery from a drug or alcohol addiction.

Under the measure only licensed and certified recovery homes could receive state funding or referrals from public agencies.

“It is a priority of my administration to do all it can to fight the heroin and opioid epidemic,” Wolf said in his signing statement. “Recovering from the disease of addiction is not an easy task and it's our job to ensure that recovery homes, where residents should feel safe and protected, are adhering to the highest standards so residents have peace of mind to focus on getting well.”
This bill was part of a package of legislation the Wolf administration backed as a response to the crisis of opioid addiction.

Pennsylvania Sen. Tom McGarrigle, R-Delaware, was the bill's prime sponsor. “People entering the recovery process have taken the crucial first step to a better, productive and healthy life,” McGarrigle said. “Approval of SB 446 sends the message that we will not let that journey be cut short due to the lack of a safe and secure environment for recovery.”

Before SB 446, recovery homes were only subject to the local ordinances of the municipality or township in which they are located.

The measure is now known as Act 59 of 2017.

ABORTION RIGHTS

On Dec. 18, Wolf issued his veto of SB 3, which in a statement he called “anti-choice” legislation.
The formal veto message was delivered at Philadelphia City Hall, where Wolf was joined by Mayor Jim Kenney and women's reproductive health advocates.

“This legislation is a disingenuous and bald-faced attempt to create the most extreme anti-choice legislation in the country,” Wolf said. “This legislation is an attempt to criminalize the decisions that women make about their own health care, and this legislation destroys health care options for victims of the horrors of rape and incest. For these reasons, I am vetoing this bill today.”

SB 3 passed the state House of Representatives on a 121-70 vote.

According to a statement from the Wolf administration, the measure would ban abortions after 20 weeks “except in the rarest of circumstances” without exception for victims of rape or incest, or for pregnant women with health risks or “tragic fetal anomalies.” It would also ban what the administration called “one of the safest methods of second trimester abortions, putting women at risk and taking crucial decisions about their medical care out of the hands of their trusted medical providers.”

Backers of the measure fired back at Wolf in the wake of the veto message.

State Rep. Kathy Rapp, R-Warren, who is majority chairwoman of the bipartisan House Pro-Life Caucus, said in a statement on the House Republican Caucus website that the bill would ban “horrific late-term dismemberment abortions.”

She also questioned the reasoning in the veto message, saying it was “disingenuous” and “untruthful” to focus on the lack of exceptions in the bill, saying there were no changes in SB 3 to the exceptions included in the quarter-century old Abortion Control Act. “If signed into law, this legislation, based on major advances in science, medical technology and health care, would have specifically prohibited abortions after five months of pregnancy, recognizing the capacity of unborn children to feel pain, and the fact that health risks to the mother significantly increase after 20 weeks of pregnancy,” Rapp said.

PARKING AUTHORITY

State Rep. Scott Petri, R-Bucks, announced on Dec. 19 that he will leave the General Assembly on Dec. 31 to become the executive director of the Philadelphia Parking Authority. Petri, now in his eighth term in the Pennsylvania House, was named to the post on Dec. 15. “It has been the privilege of a lifetime to represent the citizens of the 178th district,” Petri said in a statement on the House GOP website. “I am humbled and gratified by the support I have received from my constituents over the years and for the opportunity to serve. I have enjoyed every moment of my service. I look forward to this challenging and exciting new role with the PPA and the opportunity to continue my work in public service.”

Petri has held several leadership positions in the House, including a term as vice chairman of the Appropriations Committee, and as chairman of the Urban Affairs, Ethics and Gaming Oversight committees.

As chairman of the House Ethics Committee, Petri was responsible for developing stronger House Ethical Conduct Rules while also clarifying and strengthening the rights and responsibilities of the Ethics Committee, which handles matters involving conflicts of interest or job-related misconduct by House members, staff and officers. Petri was first elected to the House in 2003.

MEDICAL MARIJUANA

The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Dec. 19 said GTI Pennsylvania, of Montour County, and Pennsylvania Medical Solutions, of Lackawanna County, have been approved to begin growing and processing medical marijuana at their facilities.

“Pennsylvania now has six grower/processors that are fully operational, bringing us one step closer to providing medical marijuana to patients,” Wolf said in a statement. “We expect more grower/processors to become operational in the coming days. The program is moving forward to deliver medication to patients with serious medical conditions in the next few months.”

In order to become operational, the grower/processors underwent several inspections from the Department of Health. The facilities also are fully integrated with the seed-to-sale tracking system. With state approval, the grower/processors may now begin accepting seeds and clones to grow medical marijuana. •